


What are we?

by einsKai



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Study, Friends to Lovers, Kinda, Love Confessions, M/M, Stupid Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 01:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10675254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/einsKai/pseuds/einsKai
Summary: "Hey Oikawa.""Yes, Iwa-chan?""What are we?"





	What are we?

"Hey Oikawa", Iwaizumi said.

They were laying on the floor of Oikawa's room, doing nothing, even though they had work to do, summer homework, training, anything but nothing. The summer's heat made everything uncomfortable, sticky and hot. Not even the electric fan could stop the sweat from forming, pooling in the nape of his neck.

"Hey Oikawa", he said again, putting more force behind his words, when his friend didn't react. He still didn't, pretended to be asleep or whatever, even though Iwaizumi knew for sure he wasn't, Oikawa never took naps, never had and probably never will.

"Oikawa, what are we?"

His friend shuddered and pretended to wake up from his nonexistent slumber, his eyelids fluttered open and Iwaizumi couldn't help but notice the shadows the long lashes threw onto his face. Oikawa seemed to be illuminated by the afternoon sun that shone through the half opened window behind him. He wore a crown from pure golden light, as he lifted his head from his folded arms, where it had been resting, and Iwaizumi had never see him wear anything more befitting for him, nor had he ever been this beautiful.

Still caught in his act Oikawa sat up and sleepily rubbed his eyes, letting out a small yawn. Iwaizumi was staring in wonder, but then he opened his eyes again and Iwaizumi fell victim to the cold, calculating stare in his friend's eyes that was usually reserved for the court and the long nights Oikawa spent to analyse the opponent's strategies. He felt as if the temperature of the room had suddenly dropped drastically and his shirtless state was in no way appropriate for this temperature, yet it was still as hot as before.

"What do you mean?"

Oikawa's voice cut the tension like a knife, smooth, dangerous, like the snake from fairy tales. Malicious, spiteful, treacherous.

Indeed, what did Iwaizumi mean with his question? What did he want to accomplish by asking such a foolish question?  
The voice made him question what he was thinking about, made him feel small, made him want to kneel before Oikawa, the true king of the court. He was nothing but a subject, why did he bother raising his voice to ask this question? As if his king would have the time to think about such an insignificant matter.

But Iwaizumi knew better, knew he was not just a subject to Oikawa, knew Oikawa was no actual king, knew both of them to be ordinary highschoolers, knew better than to give in to the temptation the voice lured him into, knew better than to give in and drop the question.

"What I mean is", he also sat up to glare into Oikawa's cold orbs, hoping he could defeat the ice and the distance in them with his hot anger, "what _are_  we?"

Oikawa actually retreated, flinched away from the blade his words formed, trying to cut the mask Oikawa had carefully crafted. His image that made him popular: cheerful, a little dumb, a pretty face and an athlete, no way he could have more treats than that. That was his mask.  
But Iwaizumi knew.  
Iwaizumi knew Oikawa, he saw him cry when a bug landed on his arm, he saw him find his passion for volleyball, he saw him go through hours of training, he saw him not sleeping properly for weeks to maintain his perfect grades on top of volleyball, he saw him getting jealous of a Kohai, he saw him overworking himself to the point of him injuring himself, just so that said Kohai wouldn't surpass him - Iwaizumi was there. He knew the real Oikawa. He didn't need this mask, he knew Oikawa's personality wasn't that perfect image he liked to show to the world. Also, while it may be perfect in the fangirl's eyes but it was nowhere near the real Oikawa. All the little flaws made him perfect, his love for volleyball, his strange obsession with aliens, the way his eyes lit up when he ate milk bread, his smile when he taught the children at the volleyball club, how his eyes tear up when he puts in his contact lenses - all of that, every small detail that made up the entirety of Oikawa Tooru, all of that, Iwaizumi loved all of that equally, entirely and utterly.  
He was in love with Oikawa and he knew Oikawa knew. This was the question.

"What are we?" meant "How do you feel about me?"  
"What are we?" meant "Could you see me as more than a friend?"  
"What are we?" meant "I love you."

Oikawa knew. He had to know, he was Oikawa after all. Smart, beautiful Oikawa, with all his flaws and a dumb best friend, sitting on the floor in the twilighted room in which the two of them had spent half their childhood, waiting for an answer that could transform their relationship into something else, that would be completely different and just a single step into another direction at the same time.

"Iwa-chan", Oikawa answered, his gaze softer now, "Iwa-chan, you should know what we are."

He didn't know. Not anymore.  
He'd known, not a long time ago, but something changed, something metamorphosed like the caterpillar he'd caught when he was six turned into a butterfly, and somehow everything was different and beautiful and the same and _more_  beautiful and Iwaizumi didn't know anymore.

"You are Iwa-chan. I'm Oikawa, Shittykawa, Trashykawa, whatever you call me. We are us. We're childhood friends."

Iwaizumi shifted. The tension grew uncomfortably thick again, the spacious room felt cramped and he took a shuddering breath.  
Was that it? Was that Oikawa's answer? Childhood friends it was then.

"But that's not what you want, right, Iwa-chan?"

Iwaizumi spluttered, felt a flush creeping over his face down his neck. The room had cooled down, since the sun was setting, but he was hot all over again.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm glad you see me as your childhood friend, I-"  
"You don't need to pretend for my sake, Iwa-chan. You love me, don't you?"

Iwaizumi's eyes left Oikawa and stared to the ground. He had been found out. He'd known Oikawa noticed and still... he prepared himself for the rejection. It would be no problem, they could just stay friends and his feelings would go back to normal after some time - perhaps.

"Iwa-chan, look at me", Oikawa said, his voice wobbly, tender, "Iwa-chan, stop being so pessimistic. I didn't say anything yet. Please Iwa-chan, don't you understand? Seeing you like this makes me", a sniffle, "seeing you this hopeless makes me cry."

Now he'd done it. He made Oikawa cry because of his stupid feelings. He looked up and saw the scrunched up face of his best friend. He had always been an ugly crier, but somehow it still suited Oikawa.

Iwaizumi took a breath to apologise, when he realised that he was crying as well. The wetness on his face matched Oikawa's and he felt stupid for it. When had he become this emotional?

"It's okay to cry because of this", Oikawa said in that moment, his voice strained with tears, "it's okay to cry."

"Oikawa", he whispered, shocked with how husky his voice sounded and then there was a body pressed against his and Oikawa was hugging him while they both cried because of stupid feelings.

"How could you believe I wouldn't reciprocate, Iwa-chan? How could you not believe in me? How could you?"

Iwaizumi didn't answer, just hugged Oikawa harder and pressed his face into Oikawa's shoulder in a vain attempt to hide his tears. His friend's hand stroked his hair and he sighed shakily, smiling into the shoulder.

"I was so dumb", he murmured.  
"Yes, you were. But I still love you."  
"I love you too."

They spent some time embracing each other in the gradually darkening room.  
Iwaizumi tried to memorise every sensation that made up this moment: Oikawa's scent lingering in Iwaizumi's nose, the feeling of his slightly sticky skin under his fingers, the softness of his hair on his neck and the feeling of him breathing, first shakily but slowly evening out, his silhouette in the now completely dark room, the soft sobs fading out.

"Hey Oikawa."  
"Yes, Iwa-chan?"  
"What are we?"  
"We're us."

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on my phone and in the middle of the night, but I'm pretty happy about how it turned out :D
> 
> I tried to describe everything very detailed and colourful and I think I did a good job ^^
> 
> Please tell me what you think!
> 
> Have a nice day.
> 
> \- Kai


End file.
